I go outside to make small drawings and sketches of the local landscapes. My paintings are created in my studio. I use the lines and shapes from the drawings as a guide in making a design of color and space. This practice allows me to relate my enjoyment of the outdoors to my interest in color relationships.

It is very important to me to spend time outside, to interact with the natural environment, when so much of a personís time is spent in a man-made setting. Living in Baton Rouge, Louisiana I have found two locations that reveal these two situations encountering one another. The I-10 Bridge that crosses the Mississippi River downtown and the I-10 overpass that goes through the City Park Lake are man-made forms in a natural environment.

I wanted to paint about the relationship between the man-made structures and the environment in which they exist. As well, I wanted to paint in response to my physical and visual connection to these places. The paintings show spaces and objects that are important to me, while also demonstrating an understanding of color, paint, and design.